the smoothest dac around

I tested a mountain of DACs and ended up with the Grace m902 for the reasons you are touching upon. It sounds true, and smooth.

I use it in my reading room. Worth listening to.

Mu Audio note Dac Kit 2.1 Level B Signature Dac with vintage tubes along with the M2tech H-Face, Stereovox XV ultra BNC cable yeilds the most analog sound around.

Hello andre , cdp777 it is known for one of the finest and smoothes around .

I have an audio aero capitole mk2 SE with new CuTF caps and it gives a very

smooth sound . I was about to change it to a Prestige , but the new Reimyo

DAP 999EX caught my eyes . It must be very smooth . It is using PCM 1704 as

DAC chip and the JVC K2 chip , plus opa 627 . Prestige used cheaps op amps

, although sound is smooth . Can you elaborate on the comparison of the

Prestige and the Reimyo 777 ?

The Burl B2 Bomber DAC is supposed to be amoung the most analog sounding converters out there.

http://www.burlaudio.com/products/b2-bomber-dac.php

http://www.burlaudio.com/quotes/quotes.php

Bugs

"The Burl B2 Bomber DAC is supposed to be amoung the most analog sounding converters out there."

Yes is supposed.... but in fact no. i had one during 1 week at home but don't keep it. it was fast , detailed but sound clinical with harsh highs. perhaps the internal switching power supply i don't know? but definitly not musical for my taste. ( used with pure music ,battery powered hiface , decware mini tori 6V6, and avant-garde nano horn).

my search continue..

hi ,
to this day i have never enjoyed music on cd as much as i did using the cdp777
it has a sound that is very distinct , namely the ability to define each musician even in madly complex passages
believable dynamic contrast , could swing from quiet to explosive in devastating ways ,never sounds congested
notes have body , there is a huge amount of information following a note, liquid highs that sound real and extended , bass is both deep and defined with a distinct warmth in the upper bass register contributing to a fleshed out sound full of body
the weiss have allmof the transparency of the reimyo minus the "life" and makes for a very analitical listning session
i find this type of sound boring despite the extra resolution available , to me it could be useful to an engineer as a monitoring device , but to say that its not enjoyable would be lying , it just doesnt let you enjoy a record as well as a reimyo
the prestige has about the same detail as the 777 ( and the weiss) but sounds thicker than both , the 777 is an improvement over the prestige by way of sounding cleaner
my theory is that the 777 uses a more acomplished analogue section and careful attention to shielding / power filtering etc etc
both dac section appear to be "old" tech from the 90s , but one quick spin and you soon learn that new doesnt mean better .....and thats by a long shot ( i tried a dac2)
hence my quest for a smooth sounding dac , i like them full of life , with outstanding resolution and smashing frequency extremes .etc etc , they al seem to have that at the moment but none of them have the life of a cdp 777

None of these I can say will absolutely suit you, but here's a few suggestions.

First up, Chord's QBD76 - needs using with a interface such as Weiss' INT202 (or a Lynx AES16 or RME AES32 card in a PC). This uses a FPGA custom DAC stage coupled with a high quality analogue stage and (almost) unique WTA filtering.

Second suggestion would be the Naim DAC, again you'll need to add a suitable interface to give a good SPDIF output from your computer. Like your 777, it utilises an older DAC chip (the PCM1704) with high quality analogue stage. The DAC can be "upgraded" with 2-stages of external PSU (each costing new more than the DAC).

Finally, and more left field. You could look at NOS DACs such as the VALAB - especially if you are interested in DIY experimenting with such a DAC.

Eloise

Finally, and more left field. You could look at NOS DACs such as the VALAB - especially if you are interested in DIY experimenting with such a DAC.

I don't think this is so left field at all. What Andre describes is just his love for NOS (without him knowing perhaps) although it will be a most difficult task to combine that with "the most smooth".

But let's say "it can be done" (with a sneaky wink to Eloise).

Not so much in between the lines : I think it would be very good if more people realize that what Andre describes for his likings (and try to see the negatives in that !) is just NOS. Of course now I am referring to my own extensive research; It just is so, and it just is better (and I hope this can stay without further elaboration this time).

Peter

The MDHT Havana is a very smooth sounding NOS Dac, the USB input is not great, it needs a HiFace or an Int202.

Next up is an the already mentioned Audio Note.

I have a 2.1 and it is an 'analogue' delight, very smooth and organic, it will handle 96kHz sample rates and just makes great music.

so why not a Reimo DAC? Pair it with a good Asyncronous computer interface (like the Wavlength Audio, Wavelink) and you will be very happy. Simple.

yep , just purchased a dap777 , i already have a dac2 on a mini i will use it as an interface , i understand that i will not be playing hi res ,but i am not bothered 4.5 terra aiff and counting of redbook
yet another s/h deal , i would have loved to try to work with a dealer that has an opinion and stock ,but these seem to have totally vanished in london ,
a dealer ,some 450 miles round trip suggested i bring my trios/duo omega to him so i can listen to a tubed dac ,me thinks " les douzes travaux d'hercule"
worked with keith on dac2 amarra , great guy , totally unbiased ( might work against you this one ), decently stocked and a great system ( your bass in limp keith ,,,active .....active keith )
i will report on my findings ,would love to see how a computer with an interface on a reimyo dac will fare against the player
my experience with this sort of combo was very positive so far( dcs scarlatti / int202/yamamoto a-06/trios/ amarra ) , the mac was equal to the dcs transport
in short my current system sound good to me , but i had better sound from "vintage " players/ transport/dac ......... and by some margin

In my limited experience with DACs, I've come across some generalizations, one which seems to be that delta-sigma DACs are very smooth sounding. The Delta sigma's I've used are the AK4396 and the AD1955.

I guess your mileage may vary.

CD

... delta sigmas are not smooth , but some dsp software of IC around DAC may be .

PCM 1704 is the best DAC ever builded , but an expensive chip it is , it is not delta sigma but ladder dac or R2R dac , an approach as DCS and ring dac .
1704 is 24 bit
1702 is 16 bit as far as I know .

NOS like Havana may be smooth but reimyo is another world .

Have you looked at new reimyo 999ex , it will be wise choice with Mac mini , just google it .

Greetings from other side of the planet . Chile .

keep us updated .

Hi,
I had the same experience with you when I was demoed a weiss DAC1.
I kept it in house for a week and experimented with my system to try to find the solution to the problems you described.
The only solution i found is Amarra!
It feels like those two (Amarra and Weiss) were developed for each other.
I found no other way to get a satisfying performance out of weiss.
I tried Foobar and JCRiver on PC and iTunes, Pure Music and Amarra on Mac, as well as a number of other tweeks to my system (interconnects, power cables, checked my polarity again (arghh), damping devices, etc...)
Only with Amarra you can get what you are describing for 777.
(you can download the trial version of Junior from their website to quickly check).
By the way Amarra don't have the same effect with all DACs. My Havana plays better with Pure Music.
Hope that helps.
I would really like to hear your results

hi
i have amarra full version

I also tried Amarra , too expensive IMHO , also enough software there is

inside IC of players to add more code to our ears . Less is better I think .

So , andre ; what are you using now ?

hi
currently avantgarde acoustic model 3i/wavac md300b m in another room
avantgarde acoustic duo omega / trio in another room
weiss dac2
analysis plus golden oval xlr/rca
analysis plus golden oval/oval 8 speaker cable
analysis plus silver oval jumper from binding post to drivers in both
both with audio consulting crossover
all power cords oyaide tunami gpx
audiomagic stealth xxx on both
ssc platform on both
acoustic revive rr77 on both
mac mini /amarra
ipad
also access to a dcs scarlatti dac on holidays ( courtesy of chad)

I can see why you would want a smoooooth dac with those Avantgardes!
Get yourself something decent!
VB Keith.

... oyaide + Tunami , nice choice , las week Ill tried USD 1000 XLR cable vs

XLR from Mogami , about USD 120 , kept the Mogami . Did you like

the scarlatti ? how do you compare it with the Reimyo 777 ?

Ahhh forgot , Im using Furutech both ends on my DACs power cords , very

nice and cleans .

Smoothest configuration will be S.E.Ts matched with high sensibility speakers

plus a very , very good tube or ss dac . Of course keeping the full advantage

of flac , wav or any other format in your mac . IMHO .

hello sir
well you may be right . but it was smooth before and i was really happy ,
i would have kept my setup , but having 4000+cd around and listening only to the ones i could physically reach was getting on my nerves
my gilrfriend started asking for a private pension scheme just to sort them monthly , i might have eaten a cd based dish once or twice without even knowing
so i came to you and you suggested the dac2 ,around the same time i started to use a hearing aid ....
ok , its a nice piece of gear iam sure but couldnt match a 777 in refinement , its still listenable but not as involving
it goes like this , i switch on and start analysing the recordings , this one sounds good ,this one sound bad , this has good bass , this one is........
never done that with the reimyo or the prestige for that matter .
i kid you not , i use to mimic playing guitar like a virtuoso using my girlfriend casio dg20( a darth vader looking instrument) listning to pat metheny
i dont do that anymore , i just drag real hard on those marlboro and go for a kebab instead

i am ashamed , i took up hooliganism because of weiss